1-10 June 2012 We do some repairs, laundry and communications, meet up with Vancouver friends, and wait for Elisabeth to arrive from Nova Scotia. It is all very exciting although much of this activity involves using the boat like a … Continue reading
Thursday 31 May 2012 We set out from Nanaimo for Howe Sound in the morning after listening to the weather report. It’s about 26 miles across the Georgia Strait, anchorage to anchorage, on this calm grey morning. We hope for … Continue reading
Dog days of May How much stuff can you stuff on a boat? That’s always the question when you’re preparing for a big voyage. There are all sorts of places to hide things on a boat—we find the extra box … Continue reading
27 May 2012 The west coast offers some novel challenges to sailors like us who have arrived from elsewhere. In particular, the mix of tides, currents and wind in the numerous narrow straits and passages of the waters between Vancouver … Continue reading
19 May 2012 Montague Harbour, Galiano Island “What is the nature of your distress?” Question routinely asked by Coast Guard Station dispatchers. Slowly, over the Victoria Day weekend, in measured questions and responses, a drama unfolded over the radio. A … Continue reading
Russell Island is a crooked finger of land tucked into the eastern edge of Fulford Harbour, Salt Spring Island. You can only get there by boat—though a kayak or rowboat would do if you were near enough to begin with. … Continue reading
A blue water cruising vessel is like a house that you shake up and down and immerse in salt water. Things break and wear out under such stresses. A sailing vessel built in 1976, and sailed hard part of the … Continue reading
International borders are strange and artificial things—they drive distances between spaces that are not at all far apart. Charts and maps tend to reinforce such prejudices because often they omit lands or waters belonging to other nations—as on ancient maps, … Continue reading
10 May 2012 It’s both an enormous relief and a struggle always to leave the dock. Once we pull away, we sever certain ties with the land and its shops and roadways–as well as, in North America, simple assumptions … Continue reading
This gallery contains 16 photos.
Quoddy’s Run has been in the shed in Canoe Cove all winter, undergoing extensive repairs to her decks, which now look brand new. New port lights, new hatches, new stanchions, new mast collar and various subtle bits of new rigging … Continue reading
West by East 